Before I explain my predicament, I will point out that I know practically nothing about computer programming. Therefore, I will probably pick apart almost any response I get with questions like, "what is a (insert alien linux word here)?" Please be patient with me, because I really would like to learn how to use this program. I got so sick of using Windows on my computer that I took a dive and grabbed this one.
So far, everything is running okay. There are things I have yet to learn, however. My main and most urgent problem as of now is this plug-in called faad2. I really haven't installed any sort of plug-in before, so anyone who answers this question is probably going to be helping me with my linux future as well.
I just recently transferred some of my friend's music onto my computer, but he has a mac and itunes, so some of his files are not mp3's, but are m4a's. faad2 is a plug-in for xmms, and it seems several other programs, that allows it to play .m4a files. I downloaded it, extracted it, and now I have a faad2 folder on my desktop. Inside there're a lot of file . . . thingies, and after browsing for a couple minutes I came across two documents that appear to be instructions on how to install this stuff. However, no matter how closely I think I am following these instructions, I am getting no results. Here are the two documents.

/home/(My Name)/Desktop/faad2/README.linux

To compile under Linux.
----------------------
just run :ton install the mp4/aac plugin run :
- autoreconf -vfs && configure
and install as root with :
- make install-strip

- autoreconf -vif
then run configure with options you want.
run ./configure --help for more informations.

about the xmms plugin.
---------------------
The xmms plugin need to be build after the install of the faad project.
so after you have installed correctly faad (--with-xmms options) you need
to configure and build the xmms plugin part in the plugins/xmms directory.
Read the README and INSTALL files into the xmms directory.

I tried these commands with Tools-Run Command in the exact same browser from which I was viewing this document, and no results.
I also found this document further deeper in the faad2 folder.

/home/(My Name)/Desktop/faad2/plugins/xmms/INSTALL

ton install the mp4/aac plugin run :
- autoreconf -vfs && configure
and install as root with :
- make install-strip

Again, same method, no result.

Question #1: Is xmms the best free music player available for linux?

Question #2: If not, where can I find one?

Question #3: If so, is the faad2 plug-in just a rubbish plug-in?

Question #4: If faad2 is a rubbish plug-in, what should I use instead?

Question #5: If faad2 is as good as I can get, how the hell do I nstall the damned thing?

PLEASE HELP

Hi,

#1 - Xmms is getting a bit old now. It's very popular still, it's also like Winamp, so it's liked for that. I use Amarok with KDE because it's the best media player I know. Faaaar better than itunes, windowsmedia etc.
XMMS still has a lot going for it though, because it has tons of plugins.

Now, to answer questions 2, 3, 4 and 5 I'd prefer to go back to basics with you.

I need the answer to just one question: Which Linux distribution are you using?

The reason I ask, is that you are doing installation the HARD way! - most installation of software is automatic in Linux these days. My website details how to install software for most distributions, and it's as simple as selecting the software you want to install, clicking install and the software is downloaded from the net and installed automatically.

See my website http://www.linuxnewbieguide.org specifically, the chapter 'How do I install software?', which is HERE..

This is the case for most modern Linux distros, and is especially easy on Ubuntu/Debian based distros.

I know that I have mp4 compatability in my version of XMMS, and I have never once unzipped a file, or had to compile anything in order to get it to work!

Go read my link and hopefully you won't even need your next questions answered.

But if you do - I'm happy to help - let me know how you get on.

Regards,

Ali